1878 vindicated?

Let’s take off the rose tinted spectacles. BP is a sh!thole. The majority of seats are restricted view. Only the Lower Findus (or whatever it’s called now) has no roof supports impeding the view. The facilities are terrible. I appreciate 1878 are making the best of things but space is restricted. And the disabled facilities are an embarrassment.

I am lucky that I’ve had the same season ticket seat since 1998 and have a good (totally unrestricted) view of the pitch. Can anyone buy a new season ticket without it being restricted view? What are the views like for the match by match fans?

Then there’s the parking situation. It doesn’t help when fans know they can’t park anywhere near the ground after 2PM. It puts people off, especially the casual fan who might make a decision at 13:30 to go to the match.

Blundell Park is no longer fit for purpose. We don’t have the space around BP to do a Leyton Orient type redevelopment so a new stadium is the only viable option. We have a highly successful co-owner who has worked in property developer and I fully expect him to be able to find a viable way to deliver a new modern stadium with enough extra income generated to help finance the mortgage we’d need to finance it without damaging the club.

I want a new stadium as much as the next fan but what’s this 7 day income thing based on ?

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Let’s take off the rose tinted spectacles. BP is a sh!thole. The majority of seats are restricted view. Only the Lower Findus (or whatever it’s called now) has no roof supports impeding the view. The facilities are terrible. I appreciate 1878 are making the best of things but space is restricted. And the disabled facilities are an embarrassment.

I am lucky that I’ve had the same season ticket seat since 1998 and have a good (totally unrestricted) view of the pitch. Can anyone buy a new season ticket without it being restricted view? What are the views like for the match by match fans?

Then there’s the parking situation. It doesn’t help when fans know they can’t park anywhere near the ground after 2PM. It puts people off, especially the casual fan who might make a decision at 13:30 to go to the match.

Blundell Park is no longer fit for purpose. We don’t have the space around BP to do a Leyton Orient type redevelopment so a new stadium is the only viable option. We have a highly successful co-owner who has worked in property developer and I fully expect him to be able to find a viable way to deliver a new modern stadium with enough extra income generated to help finance the mortgage we’d need to finance it without damaging the club.

Parking at Lincoln isn't much better and they get 9000. Scunthorpe have a good size car park but it can take an hour or more to get out.

Unusually for me I have an open mind about whether we should move or not.

I love Blundell Park and the memories, and would not mind at all if it could be redeveloped if it was worthwhile.

I am sure 1878 will be looking at innovative ways to get what we need. Do the facilities that would generate more revenue have to be at the stadium site, or could they be sited cheaper away from BP if we were to stay there, effectively meaning BP could be redeveloped just for the benefit of match days?

The only thing I would hate is to go for the identikit soulless stadium just to move so if they do decide it is viable to move then I am hopeful they would give us a stadium to be proud of.

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

I want a new stadium as much as the next fan but what’s this 7 day income thing based on ?

It'll be based on a range of facilities, my wife works in hospitality at Swansea's stadium and she gets shifts working at all kinds of corporate functions. Other stadiums have other facilities in them and act as a corporate landlords, there are loads of options depending on the actual configuration of the space.

I know it's just one example  but Swansea's attendances doubled almost overnight compared to what used to go to the Vetch and that was at league 2 level right at the beginning of their meteoric rise up the divisions. Having frequented the vetch a lot I was quite surprised at the latent demand that had never been tapped into.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

It'll be based on a range of facilities, my wife works in hospitality at Swansea's stadium and she gets shifts working at all kinds of corporate functions. Other stadiums have other facilities in them and act as a corporate landlords, there are loads of options depending on the actual configuration of the space.

I know it's just one example  but Swansea's attendances doubled almost overnight compared to what used to go to the Vetch and that was at league 2 level right at the beginning of their meteoric rise up the divisions. Having frequented the vetch a lot I was quite surprised at the latent demand that had never been tapped into.

I think this goes beyond corporate functions in McMenemys. There are many ways to skin a cat so to speak, but the way I would go is to turn the club into a social hub.

look at the likes of Barcelona for example, not only are they a football team but they are a basketball and ice hockey club too amongst other things. So why couldn't the club have darts teams? Pool teams etc. If there were an A & B team alternating at the home venue every week you'd have use of a bar one evening a week. Moreover, it allows people like ourselves to fulfil a dream and say they play for the Mariners (albeit at pub sports)

Yeah its the same with the Liberty as the Ospreys play there too.

I had my works xmas doo in one of their function suites about a decade ago, and there were multiple of those all going off on the same night, so they must have at least the equivalent of a few McMenemys within the stadium footprint.

Short term BP is good enough to build fan base back up to 1980’s levels, but can we realistically rely on crowds of less than 8,000 fans.

But the future has to be a sustainable solution with a facility that can be used more than 23 days a year. For too long we have had no real investment in the stadium, once by an ex mayor of Grimsby in the 1930’s and the Findus stand in the 1980’s. All we have had is the odd job man doing the whitewash where needed since.

Great Coates was always a non starter due to the Sydney College estate, others were just pipe dreams, those on the bored of the club were unable to get any funding to implement building a new ground. Not a sod has been turned since the Findus stand was completed.

For the future, Freeman Street has to be considered, this needs the will of the fans, funding and regeneration money to get the spades to dig. I’m sure the new owners would be somewhat aware of this, and now have the acumen to see the project to fruition.

Otherwise, IMO, we are stuck with 6,000 home fans and forever in the lower reaches of the Football League.  

Quoted from exiledmeggie

Short term BP is good enough to build fan base back up to 1980’s levels, but can we realistically rely on crowds of less than 8,000 fans.

But the future has to be a sustainable solution with a facility that can be used more than 23 days a year. For too long we have had no real investment in the stadium, once by an ex mayor of Grimsby in the 1930’s and the Findus stand in the 1980’s. All we have had is the odd job man doing the whitewash where needed since.

Great Coates was always a non starter due to the Sydney College estate, others were just pipe dreams, those on the bored of the club were unable to get any funding to implement building a new ground. Not a sod has been turned since the Findus stand was completed.

For the future, Freeman Street has to be considered, this needs the will of the fans, funding and regeneration money to get the spades to dig. I’m sure the new owners would be somewhat aware of this, and now have the acumen to see the project to fruition.

Otherwise, IMO, we are stuck with 6,000 home fans and forever in the lower reaches of the Football League.  

The funding has to work for the club too. Many clubs that move don't actually own their new stadium. I know many are owned by local councils but what is to stop them raising the rent in 10-15 years?

We need to own any new ground and it needs to be financed in a way that doesn't risk the future of the club.

I do think a proper evaluation of what exactly can be done with Blundell Park should be conducted though because it can be done at a pace to suit us. The old regime always dismissed it because it didn't include nice little earners for themselves. Isn't the land at Peaks Parkway owned by the Casswell family? That would be the Casswell family that one of Fentys' daughters is married to...

Quoted from jamesgtfc

The funding has to work for the club too. Many clubs that move don't actually own their new stadium. I know many are owned by local councils but what is to stop them raising the rent in 10-15 years?

We need to own any new ground and it needs to be financed in a way that doesn't risk the future of the club.

I do think a proper evaluation of what exactly can be done with Blundell Park should be conducted though because it can be done at a pace to suit us. The old regime always dismissed it because it didn't include nice little earners for themselves. Isn't the land at Peaks Parkway owned by the Casswell family? That would be the Casswell family that one of Fentys' daughters is married to...

I don’t think a council owned stadium, such as fool city in Kingston is the way forward. The owners of Hull City are hindered in progress due to only appearing at the stadium, rather than benefiting for more than the 23 days they pay rent.

I would say that round where I live, FGR are about to move to another new stadium, in a facility that has other uses to provide an income for the football, but again no sod has been dug, nor does the intricacies of who actually now owns the club clear!